


The Golden Bird Boy

by Ralli



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fable Rewrite, Gen, Not Beta Read, Not even reread to edit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:40:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29952156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ralli/pseuds/Ralli
Summary: This is literally just a rewrite of the fable The Golden Bird by the brothers Grimm, featuring Tubbo as our young prince.
Relationships: Floris | Fundy & Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, I want to stress that last tag, Niki | Nihachu & Toby Smith | Tubbo, No Romantic Relationship(s), Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	The Golden Bird Boy

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Golden Bird](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/774057) by Brothers Grimm. 



> i would very much like to stress that I have changed the fable a bit since it ends with the prince and princess getting married as most fables do, but Tubbo is our young prince so instead the princess becomes his older sister. shipping minors is wrong and something I will never do. once again: I REMOVED THE ROMANCE FROM THE ORIGINAL FABLE FOR THIS. SHIPPING MINORS = BAD AND CRINGE
> 
> For a fable named the Golden Bird it really has very little of said bird in it. I literally couldn't figure out what the message of this fable was when I first read it. Is it something about greed? Something about listening to advice? Something about being kind? I don't fucking know.

There once was a King of a bold and grand Kingdom. This kingdom's lands were bitterly cold, but the King knew of magic, the very same that gifted him his wide, black wings. He used his magic to create a beautiful garden, and in that garden he had a tree that grew golden apples. They were counted and coveted, but one morning the count came up one short. The King ordered a watch, someone to sit under the tree and watch. 

The King had three sons, none of them of his bloodline. He sent his eldest, Wilbur, to watch the tree that night. The eldest settled down, but at midnight the tug of sleep was too much for the eldest to resist and he fell asleep. Another apple was gone in the morning. The next night, the King sent out his second son, Technoblade, to watch, but alas, at midnight the second son fell asleep as well. In the morning, another apple was gone. 

The Kings youngest, Tubbo, wanted to take his turn at watching the tree, but his father had little faith in him. 

“If Wilbur and Techno couldn’t do it, how could you do it?” The King cited. 

“But please, Father,” The youngest begged. 

“Fine,” The King relented. 

That night the youngest threw himself under the tree and resigned to sit watch. The clock struck midnight and a ruffle of feathers caught the youngest attention. There flying in was a large bird, the moonlight glinting off it’s solid gold feathers. The bird landed and picked one golden apple before the youngest raised his crossbow and shot at it. Away flew the bird, but the arrow knocked loose a single golden feather. 

He picked it up and brought it to his father, the King, the next morning. The King’s counsel, upon seeing the feather, declared it more valuable than the whole kingdom. 

“I can do nothing with a single feather,” The King declared. “I will have the whole bird.” 

So the eldest son Wilbur went on a trip to find the beautiful bird. He was confident he would find it. 

When he had gone a short distance, he came upon a fox sitting close to the forest. He drew his bow to shoot, but the fox cried out in disagreement, “Do not shoot me, and I will give you a piece of good advice!” 

Wilbur kept his sight steady. 

“You are on the road to the golden bird,” Fundy the fox continued. “And this evening you will come upon two taverns across from one another. One will be brilliantly lit and there will be a party inside, however, go to the other one. Enter the other, even if it seems poor to you.” 

Wilbur gave no care for the animal’s advice, thinking to himself how could a stupid animal like that give good advice. He pulled the trigger on his crossbow, but he missed. Fundy turned tail and ran away. The eldest son walked on until he reached the two taverns, one throwing a joyus party and covered in red vines that crept up the side. The other stood in a decrepit state. 

“I would be a fool if I were to go to that miserable place when this good one is so near,” he said to himself. 

So he went to the noisy one, and forgot everything outside of the festivities surrounding an Egg. When some time passed and the eldest did not return, the second set out on the same journey. He met the same fox and disregarded the same advice. He saw his brother in the window of the lively tavern and could not resist the call. Technoblade gave in to the merriment of the Egg as well, forgetting everything else. 

Again some time passed and the youngest prince wished to try his luck. But his father would not let him go, sure that if his brothers couldn’t do it, then he had even less of a chance. When the prince did not let up in begging the King relented, if only to get some peace. It wasn’t long before the prince met the fox at the edge of the forest. Once more he begged for his life from the prince, and the prince assured him he would bring no harm to the fox. 

The fox gave his advice and offered the prince a ride for being so courteous. “Seat yourself upon my tail so you may travel more quickly.” 

Scarcely had Tubbo sat that the fox ran off, fast enough to make the boy’s hair whistle in the wind. They reached the two taverns and Tubbo took the poorer of the two without hesitation. The night passed with no incident and in the morning the fox sat waiting for him in the field. 

“I will give you more instructions on what to do next,” The fox said. “Go straight on and you will reach a castle with a whole troop of soldiers in front of it. Fear not, they will all be asleep and you can slip by easily. Go into the castle and through all of the rooms. You will come upon a room with the golden bird in the wooden cage. There will be a golden cage nearby, for show, but be careful not to take the bird out of the ugly cage and put it in the golden cage. It will not end well for you.” 

With that, the fox stretched out it’s tail and the King’s son sat upon it and away they went, hair whistling in the wind. 

When they arrived at the castle it was as Fundy had said. The prince soon discovered the room with the wooden and golden cages. In the wooden cage sat not a bird, but a boy his age, barely a foot tall, with golden feathers growing from his skin, and hair like spun gold. 

The prince thought it sad that the boy was confined to such a small, ugly cage. The golden one was much bigger and he thought it wrong to bring the boy with him in such a common and bad cage. So he opened the door and brought the poor boy, Tommy, to the golden cage. No sooner had Tubbo placed the bird boy onto the golden cage floor had the bird boy cried out in pain. The castle awoke at the sound of his cry and the King’s soldiers came and took the prince away. 

The prince was brought before the King’s bone-white, smiling mask, and condemned to death. The king would only pardon him on one condition. 

“Bring me the golden horse, Spirit, who runs faster than the wind,” The king commanded. “And I shall give you your life and the golden bird as a reward.” 

Tubbo accepted the condition and set out the morning after. Once again the fox met with him, this time in the field outside of the castle. “Ah, if only you had listened to me. But I’ll look after you, naive prince. Travel straight along this road and you will come up on another castle. The horse will be in the stables. Everyone will be asleep so you will be able to lead the horse away quietly. But you must be cautious to saddle the horse with the wooden and leather saddle, not the golden one beside it. Everything will go wrong for you if you do not.” 

Then he offered his tail a third time and the prince seated himself on it. Away they went, hair whistling in the wind. When they came upon the second castle, everything happened as the fox said it would. The prince marveled at the horse, Spirit. He thought to himself it would be disgraceful to saddle the horse with the wood and leather saddle when such a fine one hung beside it. He would use that one. 

Before he could even tighten the straps the horse began to neigh loudly, waking the stable boy dressed in purple, who awoke everyone else and brought the prince into custody. Tubbo was brought before the emperor, his horns glinting in the afternoon sun. Once again Tubbo was sentenced to death, unless he could retrieve the kind princess from the golden castle. 

“I will give you the horse in addition to your life,” the emperor slurred. 

Growing increasingly discouraged, the prince agreed. He saw the faithful fox once again when he set out on his journey. The fox nipped at his ankles before saying “You clearly haven’t learned from your mistake. But I feel bad for you. I will help you once more escape your misfortune. The path to the golden castle is straight ahead. The princess will be reading in her library long after everyone is asleep. You must ask her politely to come with you, and she will be happy to do so. A word of warning, you must not let her say goodbye to her guardian, Eret. It will only bring the worst luck if you do.” 

The fox stretched out his tail and away they went, over hill and dale, their hair whistling in the wind. 

When the prince arrived at the castle he quickly found the princess, Niki, and asked her politely to come with him. She agreed readily, only once stopping to ask to say goodbye to her dear guardian. Tubbo denied her, remembering the fox’s words. When she started to weep he reluctantly agreed to let her say goodbye. Scarcely had she stepped into the King’s room had they awoken and swiftly put the prince in prison. 

The King said he could only regain is life if he cut down the mountain that had been blocking their view from their window. Only then could Tubbo live, and leave with Niki in tow. The King gave the prince eight days. The prince began at once and did not stop until the dusk of the seventh day, when he saw how little progress he had made and fell into despair. 

Once again the fox showed up, offering no kind words. “You don’t deserve this, but go lay down. I will do the work for you.” 

The prince dejectedly went to lay down and quickly fell into sleep. When he awoke, to his surprise the mountain was gone. He hastened to tell the king that his requirement had been fulfilled. The King was not happy, but agreed to let the princess leave, as they had to keep their word. 

Away with the princess Tubbo went. It was not long before the fox returned. “You have indeed gained the best of all, but the princess and the horse go together.” 

“How do I do that?” the prince wondered. 

“I will tell you. First bring the kind princess to the emperor. There will be much joy and they will gladly lead the horse to you. Mount the horse and shake hands with everyone there. Shake the hand of the princess last, and swing her onto the horse. Ride away, no one will be able to overtake you, as the golden horse is faster than the wind.” 

The prince did exactly that and the two of them rode off out of the kingdom. The fox did not lag behind, instead spoke again to the prince. 

“Now I will help you get the golden bird. When you near the castle let the princess down, I will take care of her. Ride into the town and there will be much joy and they will gladly bring the bird to you. Once the cage is in your hands gallop back to us and fetch the kind princess.” 

The prince did as he was told and prepared to ride off with all of his treasure. The fox once again spoke to the prince. “I have helped you so much, it is only fair you help me. You must reward me for my services.” 

“What would you like?” Tubbo asked. 

“I would like you to shoot me dead. Then cut off my head and my paws.” 

The prince denied this request, not willing to shoot what he considered a dear companion now. 

The fox then turned away. “If you will not, then I must leave you. I offer this last good advice. Beware of two things. Do not pay for gallowed birds, and be careful not to sit on the edge of a well.” And with that the fox ran off into the forest. 

The prince found the advice a bit silly. “Who pays for gallowed birds? And when will I ever have the desire to sit on the edge of a well?” 

So he rode on with the kind princess until they reached the town with the two taverns. There was great excitement in the town and he found out two men were to be hanged for wicked deeds. When he came nearer, he found it to be his two brothers, who’s red eyes had seen them do evil things and squandered all their money. He asked if there was any way to free them. 

“Supposing you pay for them,” A fluffy haired woman with sheep ears said. “What is the point of wasting all your money on two villains such as they?” 

Tubbo disregarded her and paid their bail. The brothers were freed and they all rode away. They came to the forest where they all first encountered the fox. The shade gave a much appreciated reprieve from the sun. 

“Let us sit and rest by this well a little, and eat and drink something,” the two brothers proposed. 

The young prince agreed, having forgotten the words of the fox at this point and suspecting no evil. They ate and drank and in the meantime the young prince Tubbo found himself sitting on the edge of the well. The two brothers seized their chance and pushed him in, collecting the horse, the bird and the kind princess to bring back to their father. 

“We bring not only the bird, but a golden horse who is faster than the wind,” said they. “And the kind princess from the golden palace.” 

There was much rejoicing within the kingdom, but the king was quick to notice the horse wouldn’t eat, the bird boy wouldn’t speak, and the sweet princess did nothing but weep bitterly all day. 

The youngest brother had not perished, for he landed on the soft moss at the bottom of the dried up well. He could not get out again, though. Despite his misfortune the faithful fox Fundy had not abandoned him, springing down to scold the young prince for not heeding his warnings. 

“I still cannot forsake you,” he told the prince. “And I will help you see the light of day again.” 

Then he had the prince take hold of his tail and pulled them out of the well. “You are not out of danger yet, young prince. Your brothers, unsure of your death, have set spies out to look for you and kill you if they see you.” 

The young prince stopped by an old homeless man by the road and swapped clothes with him. Properly disguised he made his way into the castle. He was not recognized, but the golden bird began to cuss loudly, the golden horse began to eat, and the kind princess from the golden castle dried her tears. 

The King was astonished. “What does this mean?” 

Then said the kind maiden. “I do not know, but I am no longer sad, I am light-hearted. It is almost as if my little brother has returned.” 

She told the king what happened, having been threatened with death by the brothers if she betrayed them. King Philza summoned all the people to his castle, and with them came the young prince in disguise. The kind princess recognized her new brother immediately, throwing her arms around him. The wicked brothers were brought to an exorcist, and the youngest was named the heir along with making Niki his older sister. 

Long afterwards, when Tubbo was visiting the forest he came upon the fox again. 

“You have everything you desire,” the fox said bitterly. “Yet I am still miserable. You have the power to release me.” 

He begged the prince to shoot him dead and cut off his head and paws. The prince hesitantly agreed to, feeling his heart twinge at the sorrow the fox said plagued him. He sorrowfully shot the fox and cut off his head and paws. 

To his surprise the fox changed into a man, having been freed from the curse he was put under. He was none other than the brother of the kind princess Niki, the young prince’s older sister. 

And there was nothing to prevent them from being happy now as long as they lived. 

**Author's Note:**

> Why did I take the time to write this?
> 
> let me know if you enjoyed or if you didn't, this is certainly not one of my works i'd consider my best.


End file.
